Forget cocktails.
This will be the world’s largest outdoor funeral, with either Florida’s offensive struggles or the Gators’ season being laid to rest.
The annual Florida-Georgia showdown in Jacksonville always earns special attention on the calendar, but this year’s meeting is especially crucial for UF. With three straight losses and mounting fan frustrations, the Gators are in desperate need of a win.
“I like the word urgency instead of desperate,” Florida coach Urban Meyer said. “Desperation sounds awful desperate. I like urgency.”
With a victory, Florida (4-3, 2-3 Southeastern Conference) still controls its destiny in the SEC race, but a performance like the 10-7 loss to Mississippi State two weeks ago would send the season into a tailspin — even leaving the door open for the Gators to miss a bowl game altogether.
“[We need a win] real bad,” safety Ahmad Black said. “These next couple games are huge for us. Like coach said a couple times, we need to get urgent about everything.”
But the major improvement doesn’t need to come from Black’s side of the ball.
There’s no secret as to the reason for the recent skid. The offense has floundered early and often this season, and Meyer spent last week’s bye analyzing what went wrong.
He came up with four main problems: turnovers, a lack of big plays, poor passing efficiency and inconsistent red-zone production.
With two weeks to address those issues, a recurrence would be alarming, especially given Meyer’s career record of 31-3 when having more than a week to prepare for a game (16-1 at UF).
Meyer said the scheme had been “modified quite a bit,” but he’ll be counting more on having a full complement of playmakers. Running backs Jeff Demps, Mike Gillislee and Emmanuel Moody should all be close to 100 percent, and slot receiver Chris Rainey will make his return after serving a five-game suspension.
Receiver Andre Debose (ankle) will be a game-time decision.
“I’ll give you a great excuse: we’re in and out of injuries the whole year,” Meyer said.
The Bulldogs (4-4, 3-3 SEC) can identify with their rival’s struggles. Georgia started the season 1-4 but has reeled off three straight wins, averaging more points in those games (42.7) than Florida has scored in its last three contests combined (42).
Receiver A.J. Green’s return from an NCAA suspension had a lot to do with that resurgence, and he’s posted better numbers in four games than any Florida receiver has in seven (365 yards, four touchdowns).
But the Bulldogs have also benefited from facing weak opponents, as their win streak came against three of the SEC’s bottom four scoring defenses. By the same token, UGA coach Mark Richt attributed the Gators’ problems to their opponents.
“[Fans and the media] have a hard time giving everybody else credit,” Richt said. “They played Alabama, they played LSU and they played Mississippi State, and those are probably three of the top 10 defenses in the country. … I think they’ve played against some pretty dadgum good defenses, and that’s been part of the issue.”
The other part has been Florida’s sloppy execution, and focus shouldn’t be an issue against one of UF’s biggest rivals. Video of Georgia’s mid-game end-zone celebration against the Gators in 2007 has been played on loop in the football offices, but Saturday’s motivation should come from the more immediate past.
“That happened three years ago,” guard Carl Johnson said. “They’re playing that [video] like crazy, but that’s not going to help us.”
